In comments yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to lay the ground â indeed almost provide a green light â for an Israeli military attack on the upcoming Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which will include the US Boat to Gaza.

Among the passengers aboard the American boat will be 87-year old Kindertransport survivor Hedy Epstein, and author and poet Alice Walker. In all it is expected that about 10 ships, carrying 1000 people from over 20 countries will takeÂ part.

Well, we do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza. Just this week, the Israeli Government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza and we think that itâs not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defendÂ themselves.

By invoking Israelâs supposed âright to self-defenseâ against civilian boats trying to reach Gaza, we must understand that Clinton is telling Israel the United States will not stand in the way of another militaryÂ attack.

And by citing Israel allowing construction materials into Gaza to make the case that the flotilla is âunnecessaryâ because âaidâ can reach the Palestinian people in Gaza, Clinton is engaging in the ultimateÂ obfuscation.

People in Gaza have been reduced to penury and rendered dependent on aid by decades of Israeli occupation, siege and military attacks. The issue is not the delivery of aid but freeing the people by lifting the siege. It is an abhorrent position to suggest â as Clinton seems to â that if people in Gaza receive enough calories or a few building supplies then we should not be concerned about Israelâs siege. The Palestinian people of Gaza are not caged animals for whom sufficient care consists of shoving rations through the bars of theirÂ prison.

Israel, as The Electronic Intifada reported, is engaging in military drills to intercept this unarmed civilian flotilla. In light of Clintonâs statements, if any blood is spilled it will not only be on Israeli, but also AmericanÂ hands.

Prosecuting flotilla passengers under âmaterial supportâÂ laws

Not content with tacitly encouraging Israeli violence, in another alarming development, the State Department has apparently threatened that Americans who board boats to Gaza could be jailed or fined for supporting terrorism. Haaretz reports:

The U.S. State Department said Friday that attempts to break the blockade are âirresponsible and provocativeâ and that Israel has well-established means of delivering assistance to the Palestinian residents of Gaza. It noted that the territory is run by the militant Hamas group, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization, and that Americans providing support to it are subject to fines andÂ jail.

In effect, the US now seems to be defining any support for any Palestinians, including a besieged civilian population, as support for Hamas, and therefore support forÂ âterrorism.â

This mirrors its use of such âmaterial supportâ laws as a pretext to investigate and persecute Palestine solidarity, antiwar, and labor activists exercising their First Amendment rights atÂ home.

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